The Elite Business Podcast

At Elite Business Live 2026, one of the event’s most thought-provoking and passionate panel discussions tackled a question that continues to divide retailers, business owners and consumers across the country:

❓ “Do you feel the UK high street is dying?”

The audience response was striking.

📊 87% voted YES.

 

But while the audience verdict suggested the future of the high street looks bleak, the panel itself painted a far more nuanced picture. According to some of retail’s most experienced founders, CEOs, branding specialists and industry leaders, the high street isn’t dead. It’s simply being forced to justify its existence in a world where almost anything can be bought online with a few taps of a screen.

 

Hosted by entrepreneur and broadcaster Oli Barrett, this fascinating discussion explores why physical retail still matters, how consumer behaviour has fundamentally changed, and what businesses must do if they want to survive and thrive in the next decade.

Featuring:

🎙️ Amy Knight – Co-Founder, Must Have Ideas
🎙️ Arjun Sofat – Co-Founder & CEO, Free Soul
🎙️ Daniel Rubin – Chairman, Dune Group
🎙️ Jackie Naghten – Retail Branding Expert
🎙️ Mike Greene – Entrepreneur & Retail Strategist

Throughout the session, the panel challenges many of the assumptions surrounding the decline of the high street and highlights an important truth: consumers still crave connection, trust, expertise and memorable experiences. The retailers succeeding today are the ones creating meaningful customer experiences, building emotional connections and understanding how digital and physical channels now work together.

From the rise of social commerce and influencer culture to the ongoing pressures of business rates, staffing costs and changing consumer habits, the conversation offers a candid look at the realities facing modern retail businesses.

Whether you’re a retailer, entrepreneur, marketer, franchise operator, founder or simply interested in the future of business, this discussion provides valuable insights into how customer expectations are evolving and what businesses must do to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

💡 Is the traditional high street disappearing?
💡 What does successful retail look like in 2026?
💡 And what can every business learn from the brands getting it right?

Watch the full discussion and join the debate.

👇 Do you think the UK high street is dying, evolving, or entering a completely new era? Let us know in the comments.

#Retail #HighStreet #RetailStrategy #RetailMarketing #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #CustomerExperience #Ecommerce #Omnichannel #RetailTrends #TikTokMarketing #SmallBusiness #UKBusiness #Leadership #EliteBusiness

https://bit.ly/m/elitebusiness

Can you turn a £0 investment into an £80 million e-commerce powerhouse in just seven years?

Yes, you can. In this exclusive keynote speech, Amy Knight, the powerhouse founder of Must Have Ideas, pulls back the curtain on how she grew one of the UK’s fastest-growing e-commerce businesses.

If you are looking for a magical AI app, a secret supplier, or a trendy marketing hack - you won't find it here. Amy explicitly breaks down why looking for a "silver bullet" is holding your business back. Instead, she reveals how nailing the "boring basics" and doing ordinary things extraordinarily well is the true driver of explosive growth.

🔍 What You’ll Learn In This Video:

•   The Power of Data Over Opinion: Why relentless data analysis (and checking your dashboard first thing in the morning) is non-negotiable for scale.
•   The Website That "Shouldn't Work": How standard e-commerce advice failed, and why long-form, deeply informative product pages crush the competition.
•   Obsessive Customer Service: How prioritising customer understanding over Amazon-style scale creates lifelong VIP shoppers.
•   The "Founder Face" Advantage: Why replacing a celebrity brand ambassador with the company's real founder revolutionised their ad conversion rates.
•   The Framework Connection: Why none of these strategies work in isolation, and how to build a unified, unstoppable growth engine.

💡 About Must Have Ideas:

Founded by three friends around a dining room table in 2018, Must Have Ideas has grown into a titan of the UK e-commerce space, processing over 13,000 orders a day. Recognised by The Sunday Times as one of the UK’s fastest-growing brands, they continue to disrupt the retail space by focusing heavily on data, customer experience, and authentic connection.

Enjoyed the video? Don't forget to LIKE, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE for more valuable business insights!

#ecommerce  #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #DataDriven #Startups #MustHaveIdeas #AmyKnight #ebl2026 

https://bit.ly/m/elitebusiness

At Elite Business Live 2026, one of the event’s most powerful panel discussions challenged the traditional view of burnout, revealing why burnout is rarely a personal weakness and more often a systems problem built into modern business itself.

🎤 Featuring Rebecca Drew, Dr Alka Patel, Jo Eckersley, Laura Fullerton and Terese Bryson, this thought-provoking conversation explored how founders, SME leaders and entrepreneurs can achieve high performance without sacrificing wellbeing, health or long-term resilience.

🤖 As AI accelerates workloads, hybrid working reshapes culture, and business leaders face increasing pressure to do more, faster, this session unpacked the new rules of sustainable leadership.

💡 Key topics include:

 • The early warning signs of burnout every founder should recognise
 • Why many businesses are unintentionally designed for burnout
 • The difference between stress and true burnout
 • How AI could increase pressure before it improves productivity
 • Why recovery is becoming a strategic business skill
 • Human-centred leadership strategies for sustainable growth
 • Practical wellbeing tools including biohacking, nervous system recovery and resilience building

⚡ Discover why energy management may matter more than time management, why hustle culture is failing modern leaders, and how sustainable businesses are built by sustainable humans.

📈 If you’re a founder, entrepreneur, business owner or team leader navigating growth in an AI-driven world, this panel offers essential insights into leadership, resilience and performance.

🚀 Subscribe for more expert insights from Elite Business Live 2026, featuring leading voices in business, entrepreneurship, leadership and innovation.

#EliteBusinessLive #Burnout #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #FounderWellbeing #BusinessGrowth #AI #SustainableLeadership #MentalHealth #SMELeadership

https://bit.ly/m/elitebusiness

🔥 Simon Woodroffe reveals how YO! Sushi! was built through risk, rejection and relentless action. At Elite Business Live 2026, the entrepreneur behind YO! Sushi!, YOTEL and YO! Company shares powerful lessons on stepping outside your comfort zone, embracing uncertainty, creating remarkable businesses and why perfection is the enemy of progress.  

From boarding school rebel to Dragons’ Den investor, Simon’s journey is packed with honest insights, humour and unconventional advice for founders, entrepreneurs and ambitious business leaders.

In this fireside chat, discover:

 🚀 How YO! Sushi! almost never happened
 💡 Why business plans rarely go to plan
 🔥 The power of discomfort in business growth
 🎯 Simon’s surprising advice on pitching investors
 📈 Why remarkable ideas beat big marketing budgets

Whether you’re launching a startup, scaling an SME or searching for your next big idea, this conversation is packed with practical entrepreneurial wisdom.

#SimonWoodroffe #YOSushi #EliteBusinessLive #Entrepreneurship #StartupAdvice #BusinessGrowth #DragonsDen #FounderMindset #SMEs #Leadership

https://bit.ly/m/elitebusiness

What does entrepreneurship really look like behind the polished Instagram posts and funding headlines?

At Elite Business Live, Joseph Valente hosted one of the most honest founder conversations of the event, bringing together Vicky Owens, Nicola Gunby, Alfie Watts, Kathryn Burn and Fran Gresswell for a raw look at what it actually takes to build, scale and survive in business.  

From 500 investment rejections to walking away from “safe” careers, personal branding breakthroughs, AI authenticity, online criticism and building traction in crowded markets, this panel unpacked the realities most founders rarely talk about.

In this video, discover:

• Why success is built on resilience, not overnight wins
• How personal branding can transform business growth
• The truth about fundraising, rejection and persistence
• Why authenticity matters more than ever in the AI era
• How founders can turn criticism into competitive advantage

Whether you’re launching your first business, scaling a startup or building your personal brand, this session delivers practical lessons from founders doing it in real time.

Watch now for honest insights on risk, resilience and what it really takes to stand out.

#EliteBusinessLive #Entrepreneurship #StartupSuccess #PersonalBranding #BusinessGrowth #FounderJourney #AIinBusiness #JosephValente #SmallBusiness #Leadership

https://bit.ly/m/elitebusiness

At Elite Business Live, leading founders, strategists and technology experts came together to tackle a question many SMEs are asking:

👉 If over 70% of businesses are using AI, why are so few seeing real impact?

Featuring insights from Andrew Grill, Dave Birss, Kunal Kaul, Joe Seddon, and Julie Holmes, this session explores what it really takes to turn AI from experimentation into meaningful business results.

💡 In this podcast, you’ll learn:

• Why most AI adoption fails, and how to avoid the common traps
• The shift from cost-cutting to growth-focused thinking
• How SMEs can outperform larger competitors using AI
• Why leadership and culture matter more than the tools themselves
• Practical ways to start using AI within your existing systems

🚀 This isn’t about chasing the latest tools. It’s about turning AI into a way of working.

Whether you’re a founder, business owner, or part of a growing team, this session gives you a clear, practical perspective on how to make AI actually deliver value.

Subscribe for more insights on business growth, AI, and entrepreneurship 🔔

#AIinBusiness #SMEs #ArtificialIntelligence #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #EliteBusinessLive

AI is transforming business faster than ever—but most companies are still using it wrong.

 

In this keynote from Piers Linney at Elite Business Live, you’ll learn how to use AI in business to increase revenue, reduce costs, and scale without hiring more staff.

 

If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or decision-maker looking to stay competitive, this is essential viewing.

 

🔥 In this video, you’ll discover:

 

•How to use AI to grow your business without increasing payroll

•The best AI tools and strategies for small and mid-sized businesses

•How AI automation can improve efficiency and profitability

•Where AI delivers the highest ROI in business operations

•How to find hidden revenue using your existing data

•Why most businesses fail with AI (and how to avoid it)

•How to implement AI in your company step-by-step

 

💡 Why this matters:

 

AI isn’t just a trend—it’s a competitive advantage. Businesses using AI are already:

•Increasing profit margins

•Automating repetitive tasks

•Improving customer experience

•Scaling faster than competitors

 

👉 The reality: AI won’t replace you—but a competitor using AI might.

 

📈 Best use cases for AI in business:

 

•Customer service automation

•Lead generation and follow-ups

•Sales pipeline analysis

•Data insights and reporting

•Back-office and admin processes

 

⚡ How to get started with AI today:

 

1.Analyse your current business data

2.Identify missed sales opportunities

3.Automate repetitive workflows

4.Improve response times to customers

5.Train your team on AI tools

6.Build a clear AI adoption strategy

 

⏳ We’re still early in the AI revolution—but not for long. The businesses that act now will dominate their markets.

 

👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more expert insights on business growth, AI tools, and entrepreneurship.

 

#AIforBusiness #ArtificialIntelligence #BusinessGrowth #AItools #Automation #Entrepreneurship #DigitalTransformation #SmallBusiness #StartupGrowth #EliteBusinessLive

At Elite Business Live 2026, a panel of leading founders, investors, and funding experts came together to answer a crucial question for growing businesses:

How do you master the perfect pitch?

Hosted by Ollie Barrett, this session features insights from:

• Louise Hill (Founder of GoHenry)
• Richard Bearman (British Business Bank)
• Louise Doyle (Founder of Needi)
• Ian Merricks (Investor & Adviser)
• Kieran Burke (Swoop)

Together, they reveal what really happens when founders step into the room to pitch — and what separates those who secure funding from those who don’t.

🔑 What You’ll Learn:
• Why your first 5 minutes can make or break your pitch
• The importance of starting with the problem, not the product
• What investors look for in your numbers and funding ask
• Why you’re pitching an opportunity, not just a business
• How to choose the right funding route (debt vs equity)
• Why being honest about risk builds trust
• How to develop pitching into a repeatable skill

💡 Key Takeaways:

✔ Be clear and concise, no waffle
✔ Know your numbers inside out
✔ Understand the investor mindset
✔ Show growth, momentum, and opportunity
✔ Practice relentlessly

As the panel highlights, there’s no perfect script, but the best founders consistently:
• Communicate clearly
• Prepare thoroughly
• Tell a compelling story
• Take investors on the journey

👉 And most importantly: you are the opportunity.

👍 If you found this useful, like, comment, and subscribe for more insights from leading entrepreneurs and investors.

#Entrepreneurship #StartupFunding #BusinessGrowth #Pitching #Investors #EliteBusinessLive

http://elitebusinessevent.co.uk/

What if we taught kids about money the same way we teach them to swim?

At Elite Business Live 2026, Louise Hill shared a powerful vision for the future of financial education—and how purpose-driven businesses can create real, lasting impact.

From launching GoHenry with a simple idea to helping over 2.3 million children build money skills, her journey is proof that you don’t need all the answers to start—you just need a mission you believe in.

💡 Key takeaways:

• Financial education is essential, not optional
• Learn as you go—and don’t be afraid to ask questions
• Purpose fuels sustainable growth
• Businesses that solve real problems can change lives

This is a must-watch for entrepreneurs, founders, and anyone passionate about building something meaningful.

#EBL2026 #FinancialEducation #Entrepreneurship #Startups #PurposeDriven #Fintech #BusinessGrowth #Leadership #Innovation

https://elitebusinessevent.co.uk/

Thinking about taking your business international? Discover what it really takes to grow beyond borders in this inspiring and practical session from Elite Business Live.

 

In the final panel of the “Global: Crossing Borders and Breaking Barriers” series, four global business leaders share hard-earned lessons on international expansion—from strategy and structure to empathy and authenticity.

 

Panellists:

 

•Jade Buffong-Phillips – Founder, Main Hookup

•Pavlo Phitidis – Global strategist & business builder

•Lucie McLeod – Founder, Hair Syrup

•Philippa White – Founder & CEO, TIE Leadership

 

Hosted by Ollie Barrett, this conversation blends actionable advice with personal stories of challenge and growth—covering everything from city-by-city rollout strategies to how to lead with empathy in unfamiliar markets.

 

🎯 Topics Covered:

 

•Scaling your business before expanding internationally

•Choosing the right market (and why New York isn’t like the rest of the US)

•Funding, focus, and building your advisory network

•Using rejection to fuel virality (Lucie’s Dragons’ Den story!)

•The emotional and cultural intelligence needed to succeed abroad

 

Whether you’re just starting to dream globally or actively planning your next market, this session is a must-watch.

 

🔗 Watch now and take your first step across borders.

 

https://elitebusinessevent.co.uk/

 

#GlobalBusiness #InternationalExpansion #EliteBusinessLive #Entrepreneurship #StartupGrowth #DragonsDen #Leadership #UKBusiness #ExportSuccess